71 
it seems longer to the observer. They bring their prey to the surface for 
swallowing, often with it crosswise in the bill, then deftly toss it in the air 
and unerringly catch it so that it goes down easily head first without 
danger from fins and spines. 
Though Cormorants are thoroughly aquatic, their plumage does not 
seem to be so well adapted for such habits as that of other water birds and 
it appears necessary for them to come ashore at intervals to dry their 
feathers. Then they love to sit in the warm sun on crags, rocks, or isolated 
perches such as buoys, which in the neighbourhood of their operations are 
always liberally whitened with their guano. There, with wings hanging 
flaccidly, and a general air of dejection, they drape themselves with all the 
grace of a wet rag. 
Economic Status . The danger of jumping at conclusions based upon 
superficial observation or common report is well illustrated by the result of 
a study of the food of these birds in the neighbourhood of the Gaspe salmon 
rivers . 1 Though commonly accused of damaging the salmon fisheries by 
devouring small fish and fry, careful examination of about thirty specimens 
showed that the birds were eating fish of no economic value and no salmon- 
oid remains were found in them. Probably the eels, sculpins, and other 
fish taken by the Cormorant make the species beneficial rather than harm- 
ful to the salmon, and may more than compensate for the few valuable 
fish that it occasionally takes. This provides a good example of the 
caution that is necessary in condemning any species of birds. 
120. Double- crested Cormorant (Including White- crested Cormorant), crow 
duck. Phalacrocorax auritus. L, 36. Plate V B. 
black, with greenish reflections. Feathers on back 
dull bronze with black edges, giving suggestion of 
overlapping scales. Bare face, and gular pouch, 
orange. Crest when present, double, one over each 
ear, of filamentous plumes. Juvenile: dark sooty 
brown, lightening below, the scaly appearance of back 
evident. 
Distinctions. Size similar to Brandt’s Cormorant, 
much larger than Pelagic. Black edgings to dull 
bronze back feathers evident in all plumageB. Lower 
line of gular pouch cut square across throat not 
indented to heart-shape (Figure 108, compare with 
109 and 110). No distinct lightening of plumage 
around gular pouch. 
Field Marks. Size, and yellow face and sides of bill should distinguish from Pelagic. 
Black or evenly-coloured featheration about base of gular pouch, when seen, will separate 
it from Brandt's. 
Nesting. In bulky nests, among rocks on islands, cliffs, or other almost inaccessible 
localities. Occasionally in trees. 
Distribution. North America. Common and nesting locally throughout the Prairie 
Provinces north to Great Slave lake. Common on the Pacific coast, but almost absent 
from the interior of British Columbia. Known to nest at cape Flattery, and Forrester 
island, just across the border to the north, but not proved to breed within British Co- 
lumbia. 
SUBSPECIES. The bird of the coast is separable from that of the prairie interior by 
somewhat larger size and the presence of considerable white in the crest, hence the name, 
White-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus cincinatus. 
This is the common Cormorant, or Crow Duck, of the prairies and 
great central lakes. It nests on bare islands on the larger bodies of water, 
A large Cormorant. Adult: solid 
Figure 108 
Double-crested Cormorant; 
scale, £. 
1! ‘The Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorai auritus, and its Relation to Salmon Industries on the Gulf 
St. Lawrence," Dept, of Mines, Geol. Surv., Can., Mus. Bull. No. 13, Biologioal Series No. 5, 1915. 
